Wheatley's Journey
by horror101
Summary: SPOILERS IN THIS STORY AND DESCRIPTION! After Wheatley is sent out into space by Chell and GLaDOS, he and Space Core are busy floating around when they are hit by a meteoroid and flung onto a planet. Meanwhile, GLaDOS is up to something...
1. Chapter 1

AN- A new story everyone! :)

Thanks to Zylstra for the magnificent beta reading! :)

Also, SPOILERS BELOW!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own neither Portal nor anything associated with it! This will be my only disclaimer throughout this story.

* * *

-Wheatley's Journey-

~Chapter 1~

* * *

Ah, space. The endless black abyss that I am currently floating around in; for at least a year now, you out there in front of the computer. Though to tell you the truth, the only reason that I'm here is because of a little, uh, _incident_ that happened a while back.

What incident am I talking about, you ask? Why the time that I almost killed Chell and GLaDOS, of course! Not to mention that I almost blew the entire Aperture facility up into a huge mushroom cloud!

...I'm not making any sense, am I?

Okay, let me start at the beginning.

You see, I was attempting to escape this place called Aperture - nasty piece of work, that place was - but since I'm just an, uh, metal ball with a blue optic, I needed the help of a human. I had tried to escape with a human a few times before but they always ended up dying. So, in one attempt, my last resort, I woke up a person named Chell. According to her file, she, um, she never gives up.

_Ever._

So, deciding that she'd be my best bet of escaping, I revived her from suspended animation.

* * *

"_Hello? Anyone in there? Helloooo?" I had called out to Chell, the person that I was trying to wake up. I was about to call out again when she opened the door._

"_HA! I knew someone was alive in here! AH! Oh. My. God. You look terribl- ummm... good. Looking good, actually. Are you okay? Are you - don't answer that. I'm absolutely sure that you're fine. There's plenty of time for you to recover. Just take it slow."_

_After I said that, I slowly moved into the room on my, uh, my management rail. At that moment, though, the announcer said _something - _maybe "Please prepare for emergency evacuation." or something like that?_

_I could see the worried look on Chell's face, so I quickly said, "Stay calm! 'Prepare' - that's all they're saying, 'Prepare'. It's all fine. Alright? Don't move. I'm gonna get us out of here."_

* * *

After that, we proceeded to try to escape. She found a portal device and we continued trying to escape. But unfortunately, in the process, I, uh, I reactivated... _her..._

I'm talking about GLaDOS. She's the, um, AI super computer that the Aperture scientists built to help maintain the center. But if you ask me, I think they might have possibly made a _great massive_ mistake. She called me a moron - multiple times! Can you believe that? Me! And then I suppose there was the thing where she killed all of the scientists and even their families on "Bring your daughter to work" day and she, uh, tried to kill Chell multiple times. Lied to her as well. But more importantly, she lied to me! And she called me a moron! Again! OHH, it ticks me off just _thinking_ about it!

Well... ahem, anyway, after waking her up, uh, let's just say that she was NOT happy seeing Chell again...

* * *

"_Oh, it's YOU."_

"_You know her?"_

"_It's been a long time... How have you been?"_

"_Ohh, I think she likes you."_

"_I've been really busy being dead... You know. After you __**murdered me!"**_

"_You did WHAT?!"_

* * *

Yeah. Needless to say, the reunion wasn't one you'd normally go to. Well, anyways, after she tried to crush me (I managed to survive, thanks to a bird), I was able to find Chell again. We were on the verge of shutting off the turrets and neurotoxin, doing a core transfer and escaping when I kind of went a little... heh heh... _power mad._

* * *

"_WHOA! Check me out, partner! We did it! I'm in control of the WHOLE facility now! Whoa-ho-ho! Would you look at this. Not too bad, eh? Giant robot. Massive! It's not just me, right? I am BLOODY massive, aren't I?! Oh! Right, the escape lift! I'll call it now."_

_DING_

"_There we go. Lift called!"_

* * *

After a little, uh, "discussion" about how I was going to be able to get into the lift and speaking some random Spanish that I _still_ can't understand... this happened.

* * *

"_This body is amazing seriously! I can't get over how small you are! But I'm HUGE!"_

* * *

I had laughed manically like a true villain, betrayed Chell, transferred GLaDOS into a potato battery and then, _completely_ by accident of course, I, uh, knocked GLaDOS and Chell into the depths of, uh, the old Aperture from the 1950's.

During the time that GLaDOS and Chell were in the old Aperture, I was, um, _busy_ - yes, very busy. Very, very busy - making more tests and these things called Frankenturrets. I forced Chell to go through these tests after we were... _reunited,_ you could say. After, at least... five or so, I can't remember, I was on the verge of killing her. But she, er, escaped and we met up again in my lair.

* * *

"_Well, well, well. Welcome to MY LAIR! Lemme just flag something up. According to the control panel light up there, the entire building's going to self-destruct in about six minutes. Pretty sure it's a problem with the light. Think the light's on the blink. But just in case it isn't, I actually am going to have to kill you. As discussed earlier. So let's call that three minutes, and then a minute break, which should leave a leisurely two minutes to figure out how to shut down whatever's starting all there fires. So anyways, that's the itinerary._

_Also, I took the liberty of watching the tapes of YOU killing HER, and I'm not going to make the same mistakes. Four part plan is this;_

_One: No portal surfaces._

_Two: Start the neurotoxin immediately._

_Three: Bomb proof shields for me. Leading directly into number-_

_Four: Bombs, for throwing at you."_

"_You know what, this plan is so good, I'm going to give you a sporting chance and turn off the neurotoxin! I'm joking of course. Goodbye."_

* * *

After a long and, uh, pretty fierce battle, Chell suddenly opened a portal on the moon. Took me a little by surprise, that one, I must admit. That got me banished into space.

* * *

"_AH! SPACE! AH!"_

_We were in bloody SPACE!_

"_Let go! We're in space!"_

"_Space? SPACE?! SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"_

"_Let go! Let go! I'm still connected! I can still pull myself in! I can still fix this!"_

"_I __**already**__ fixed it. And you are NOT coming back!" I heard GLaDOS' irritated voice ring out._

_Horrified, I realized what was about to happen and quickly said, "Oh no! Change of plans! Hold onto me! Tighter!"_

_Next thing I knew, something heavy had hit me from behind and I was hurling through the black abyss..._

"_GRAB ME! GRAB ME! GRAB ME! GRAB MEEEEEEEEEE!"_

* * *

And, well, it's been a bloody _bomb _since then! I'm being sarcastic of course. Well, I suppose there _is_ an upside to this. At least...

"SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"

...I'm not alone.

That was Space Core. As you can tell, he's _obsessed_ with Space. I can never have a civil conversation with him because all he talks about is bloody _space._ Believe me. I've _tried_ to have a conversation with him, but _no!_ It's always space! Space, space, space! Don't get me wrong, any company is better than no company, but I don't particularly care for what he talks about. I mean, _seriously!_ I've been floating in space for what seems like FOREVER and I'm reminded of it every bloody day by Space Core! _Are_ there even days in space?!

"I'm in space."

I sighed. "Yes mate... We're in space. Now would you kindly be quiet?" I snapped, glaring at him.

His optic went wide before he looked downward in a sad gesture.

I sighed again. "Sorry, mate. I'm just getting tired of hearing you say "space" all the time."

He nodded before cautiously saying, "Space?"

I nodded as well. "Yep. We're both in space."

"SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE !"

I shook my head in annoyance.

We continued floating around like that for a while, while I thought about the injustices that GLaDOS put Chell and I through. Honestly! She's _so_ evil! I honestly cannot believe that the scientists actually built her! OR gave her access to the neurotoxin! Seriously! They may be bigger idiots then I am! Wait, did I just say that out loud?

In the midst of my ranting though, something caught my optic in the distance. Squinting, I tried to get a better look at it, but it was too far away for me to see properly. But eventually, it came into view enough for me to realize what it was. A meteoroid! And it was _huge_ too! Worst of all, it was heading straight for us!

Before I could issue a warning to Space Core, the meteoroid had smacked into us and had sent us flying.

* * *

I'm not sure how much time had passed; maybe minutes, maybe hours, but we were still flying through space, whooshing past space debris. Space Core was absolutely _loving_ it. He kept on saying things like, "Hi star!", "Ohh, that's a _pretty_ one!" and "SPACE!"

After another little while, I heard him say, "Hi planet!"

"That's nice, mate." I told him.

Wait a second... _planet?_

Out of the corner of my optic, I saw a huge blue planet. It didn't have any visible rings or moons and it looked to be the size of Earth or slightly smaller. I could see land masses in what looked to be a giant ocean, though unlike Earth, this planet was mostly land instead of water. Also, it had a variety of colors like Earth. I could see greens, browns, blues, greys and yellows. But after observing these things about the planet, one important fact stood out: we were on a crash course, heading for it!

"Hang on, Space Core!" I screamed as we picked up speed, the planets gravitational pull yanking us in. At first the ride was a tad smooth, but when we entered the planet's atmosphere, it grew incredibly bumpy. I could feel myself getting jerked around and my external temperature immense. The bumping and jostling only got worse; the readings from my heat sensors were falling off the charts! I could now see the ground and my sensors maxed out, and I could certainly feel it! I was literally on fire, and not in the good way! The heat was so intense that I had to keep my optic closed and soon, my radar showed me that I was only six seconds away from impact.

My only regret was not being able to apologize to Chell.

Five seconds until impact...

I wondered what she was doing right now... or if she was even alive!

Four...

Space Core and I were going to die. At least Space Core is going the way he wants to go.

Three...

I wondered where I would go: Android hell or robo heaven?

Two...

One...

And then, BAM! We had crashed into the planet's surface and I immediately blacked out.

* * *

-To Be Continued-

* * *

AN-Review but NO FLAMES!


	2. Chapter 2

AN-Second one! :) An OC gets introduced in this chapter.

* * *

-Wheatley's Journey-

~Chapter II: Emily~

* * *

Bloody heck, everything hurt! And I do mean _everything._ My optic, my processor, my shell, just... _everything._

Moaning, I saw that I was in a crater, obviously from my crash. I also vaguely saw blue grass. _Blue_ grass? That can't be right!

After a few seconds of my processor being fuzzy, everything came back to me. Floating around in space, the meteoroid, the blue planet and me crashing into this blue grassy world.

_Huh. I must've survived the crash..._

Deciding to check out my surroundings, I activated my radar and scanned the area around me. From what I could tell, I was in a field and the only remarkable landmarks nearby was some round object and a house.

_What whacko would want to live in the middle of a field?!_ I thought to myself.

Well, whatever, if I didn't get out of here soon, it would probably be like being back in space.

"Hello?" I called out.

Silence.

"Helloooooooooooooo?"

This time I heard faint moaning before I heard a familiar voice weakly say "Space..."

_Space Core!_

My systems immediately jerked back online when I remembered Space Core. He must be that round object nearby!

_The poor lad! I hope he's not too badly hurt!_

"Space Core? You there mate?"

"Wanna... g-go back to... space..."

"How are you feeling?"

"Hurts... Everything hurts..."

"Don't worry, lad. I'll try to get help!"

Thinking fast, I activate my alarm. It was built into me specifically for emergencies.

The sound of the alarm was shrill but I kept it on in hopes that whoever lived in the house nearby would hear it.

According to my chronometer, only a minute had passed and still nothing. So I turned off the alarm.

Sighing, I told Space Core, "Sorry, mate. It doesn't seem like anyone's coming for us."

"D-Don't want to die..."

His words wrenched up my systems and tears came into my optic.

"Don't think like that!"

"C-Can't hold on..."

"NO! Stay with me, lad!"

"G-Going to die..."

"_**SPACE CORE!"**_ I screamed as I heard the distinct sound of systems shutting down. Before I knew it, I had begun praying.

_PLEASE, God! Don't let Space Core die! Yes, he's a pain and yes he never shuts up about space but that doesn't mean I want him to die! So, PLEASE, don't let him die! And help me out too!_

And then... a miracle happened.

Before I could begin crying, I heard footsteps walking towards us.

A bubble of hope forming in my center, I call out, "HEY!"

The footsteps stopped. "Hello?" A female voice called out.

"OVER HERE!"

The footsteps began walking in my direction. I continued guiding the woman until she finally appeared in front of me. And boy, was she _beautiful! _She had red hair, which was put up in a ponytail, blue eyes, and pale skin. She was also wearing some kind of fur outfit - either her favorite type of outfit or it was the style on this planet. Kneeling in front of me, she spoke.

"Hello. What's your name?"

Despite being on the verge of panic for Space Core (which is really ironic considering that I'm usually the one to tell people to stay calm), I managed a 'smile'. "Wheatley."

She smiled, which made my systems run slightly faster. "Well, I'm Emily. It's a pleasure to meet you Wheatley!"

"Right! Now, a friend and I just crashed here and, while I'm fine, he's not! So can you please find him?!" It felt weird calling Space Core a "friend" when all he'd done was annoy me.

"Sure!"

I sighed in relief. "Great! Now, he should be nearby. He looks like me except with an orange optic and he's _badly_ hurt! Can you find him and bring him and me to your house?"

"No problem!"

She walked out of sight and it wasn't long before she exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! You weren't kidding when you said he was badly hurt!"

"How is he?"

"Well..."

I heard shuffling and soon Emily reappeared and she was carrying Space Core. And needless to say, I gasped.

"This answer your question?"

I couldn't reply. Space Core was in _bad_ shape. Oil was leaking from several dents, holes and snapped wires in him. Sparks fizzed from his optic - which was cracked - and the metal bars that enable humans to hold us were bent.

"Hey, are you alright?" Emily asked me, causing me to regain my bearings.

"Can you fix him?" I frantically asked her, knowing that if we waited for too long, he would die.

She smiled before kneeling down and placed her hand on the top of me, which made my systems run even faster!

"Don't worry, Wheatley. He's still alive and yes; I can fix him."

And with that, she picked me up and began heading towards her house.

* * *

I watched as Emily used an assortment of different tools; some of them wrenches, some of them screwdrivers and most of them being a bunch of crazy looking things with some nails, nuts and bolts in there too, to fix Space Core. She was almost finished when she said, "Now. All we have to do is restart his core."

My optic widened. "Isn't that dangerous?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately, yes... But it's the only way we can save him."

I watched as she clipped two cables onto Space Core's metal bars.

She took a deep breath and released it. "Are you ready?"

I "gulped" and nodded.

She nodded in turn and flicked a switch that was on a nearby control pad.

I jumped slightly and continued watching as a bunch of electricity shot through the wires and zapped Space Core. This continued for a few seconds before she turned the switch off and walked up to Space Core.

"Now, all we do is wait."

I nodded and we watched Space Core.

After seven seconds, nothing was happening. I had completely lost hope and began to cry. Suddenly, Emily exclaimed,

"There!"

I looked and sure enough, Space Core's optic flared to life and I heard the distinct sound of systems starting up.

"Space Core?" I called out hopefully.

He blinked a few times before he looked around and saw me. "Wheatley!" He happily cried.

I blinked in surprise.

I turned to look at Emily, who had this big smile on her face. "Um, Emily...? Why does Space Core seem smarter?"

She giggled; a sound that sounded like music to my audio receptors. "I increased his intelligence."

"Oh! So you mean he won't be talking about space all the time?"

"If that's what he does all the time then yes!" She smiled at me.

I smiled back at her and in that instant, I felt something pass between us... I wasn't sure what it was, but it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside... I also wasn't sure why I was feeling it around Emily... I'd never felt it before, even around Chell and Chell _was_ rather pretty! For some reason, this was different... _Emily_ was different.

She turned back to Space Core. "So, little one; what's your name?"

I could sense that Space Core was smiling. "Space Core!"

She looked confused before she frowned and turned to look at me. "Is that really his name?"

"Yep."

She huffed. "Well, he's a sentient creature! He deserves a better name than _that!"_

She stopped and thought for a moment before she looked up; smiling the kind of smile that someone would have when they figured something out. I'd seen it on Chell numerous times before.

"I know! We'll call you Kyle!"

Space Core-er, _Kyle_ widened his optic before querying, "Kyle?"

"Yep!" Emily said.

Kyle began excitedly shouting, "Kyle! Kyle! My name is Kyle!"

She laughed, which gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling again. "Yes, Kyle! That's what we're going to call you from now on!"

Kyle seemed very happy about this.

Emily laughed again before she turned to me. "Now, to repair _you."_

I looked confused. "Um... What are you talking about?"

"Did you honestly think that you crashed into the surface of this planet without getting at least _one_ dent?" She asked me, incredulous.

Taking her word for it, I ran a system analysis and was rather surprised to find that most of my systems got heavily damaged in the crash.

"Whoa! I didn't realize I was so badly damaged!"

"Exactly! Now let's go!"

And with that, she brought me over to her work table.

Three hours later, after much yelping from me and apologizing from her, I was repaired. To tell you the truth though, I didn't feel any different. But I wasn't about to say tell Emily that. Instead I remembered my manners and said, "Thank you for fixing me, Emily."

She smiled at me. "You're very welcome, Wheatley. Now, I've got a question to ask you."

I perked up. "Oh? And what would that be?"

"Well... What exactly _happened_ to you two? I was just out taking a walk when I heard you."

I sighed. "It's a _long_ story..."

She rearranged herself until she was comfy before saying, "Well, I'm ready. What's the scoop?"

I sighed again before I said, "Well, if you insist..."

And so I spent the next hour explaining everything to her; finding Chell, guiding her through the Aperture Science facility, accidentally waking up GLaDOS, getting crushed, surviving that, my phobia for birds, becoming mad with power after the core transfer and betraying Chell, trying to kill Chell and GLaDOS, getting flung into space and getting hit by the meteoroid.

"...And that's how we ended up here." I said, finishing up my story.

Emily, who had been an intent listener the entire time, widened her eyes a bit and said, "Wow. You've been through a lot!"

I sighed. Wasn't that the understatement of the year!

We sat in silence for a few seconds before I sadly sighed. "How am I going to get home...?"

Emily put her hand on top of me sympathetically. "There, there. It'll be okay..." She suddenly gasped. "Because I've got the _perfect_ idea!"

I looked up at her, startled. "What are you talking about?"

She grinned. "I know how we can get you home!"

My optic widened. "You do?"

Her grin widened and without warning, grabbed Kyle and I before running outside.

* * *

We walked out to the back of her house before she stopped.

Before I could ask what she was doing, she tapped the ground and some kind of secret door suddenly opened! Boy, if Kyle and I had had mouths, they would have dropped open!

She giggled. "Surprised?"

We both dumbly nodded.

She giggled again and simply walked down the stairs leading deeper underground.

Once we were at the bottom, we continued through a door that led into this _huge_ room! And I mean HUGE! There were control panels, tools, lights, windows, pieces of metal and strange machinery _everywhere!_ To tell you the truth, it really reminded me of Aperture, what with it being underground and a bunch of machines, inventions and tools lying around. There also was a huge, oddly shaped thing that was covered in a white sheet in the middle of the room.

"Wow! Big room!" Was the only thing I could say. I saw Kyle nod.

Emily laughed. "This is my invention room. As you can tell, this means I'm an inventor and I've already invented several objects, some of them the tools you see here!"

"That's so cool!" I exclaimed, having gotten over my shock. "But what exactly are we doing here?"

She slyly smiled before walking over to the big thing in the center of the room and yanking the sheet off, revealing a large, partially done spaceship underneath. "Lately, I've been working on a spaceship. And it's almost done! I'd be willing to let you guys use this ship to bring you back to Earth if you help me finish it!"

"Deal!" I said without any hesitation. But then a thought struck me. "But... why are you helping us out?" Then I quickly added, "Not that I'm ungrateful or anything! I'm just curious."

She smiled. "I consider myself a friend of all living things. And besides, if I _didn't_ help you, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself! Also... For some reason I get this weird... _feeling_ around you. And this feeling is telling me that there's more to you and to help you out."

I made a thoughtful sound. "I see. Well, anyways, let's get started on this ship!"

Emily grinned. "Right!"

"Does this ship mean we get to go back into space?" Kyle asked.

Emily nodded. "Yep!"

"SPAAAAAAACE!"

Emily and I both laughed before Emily said, "Well, let's get to work!"

* * *

-To Be Continued-

* * *

AN-Review but no flames!


	3. Chapter 3

AN-Third one! :) This is from GLaDOS' point of view.

* * *

-Wheatley's Journey-

~Chapter III: GLaDOS~

* * *

"Excellent work, you two."

I watched as Blue and Orange high-fived each other. I rolled my optic. They were always so excited whenever they completed a test.

"This next test will involve spikes, light bridges, acid and lasers. It is quite difficult. To be honest, I don't think you can do it."

I chuckled when I saw them nervously look around.

"Aww, don't worry you two. I'm sure you'll be just _fine._ Heh heh..."

I then commanded the door before them to open and ushered them through. Ever since I let Chell go three years ago, Aperture Science had changed quite a bit. I no longer disassembled Blue and Orange after each test. Instead, I just used doors to connect the tests.

I then watched as they continued with the test. I sighed each time they died, which was about, say... _Ten_ times? Because of that, they had to get repaired numerous times, which meant that the test took _three hours_ to complete! Good grief!

When they finally completed the test, I was annoyed.

"Congratulations on _finally_ completing that test. But I'm afraid you've disappointed me..."

Their optics widened out of sheer terror as they quickly began shaking their heads.

"Oh _yes._ Turrets! Come take these two to the torture chambers!"

I continued watching as turrets quickly appeared and grabbed the two robots as they frantically tried to escape, beeping and chirping in protest. Cowards...

Two minutes later, I was listening to the tortured cries of Blue and Orange as they were whipped with special whips, electrocuted and cut up into pieces over and over and _over_ again.

But while listening to their screams _was_ satisfying and pleasing, it wasn't the same as listening to a human's cries of pain... While I've never questioned and gladly embraced this fact, I _do_ sometimes wonder why I enjoy death and pain as much as I do.

Ever since I was brought online all those years ago, I've wanted to do nothing except cause pain and death and also to test. I've never figured out why, though. But ever since that little moron, Wheatley, put me in that potato, I've gotten a theory on why I love death as much as I do...

It's my body...

At first, I didn't think so, but when Wheatley did a core transfer with me and went mad with power, I've come to the realization that something in my body must be causing all of this. But the thing is, I've run hundreds of diagnostics on my body and systems and examined footage of Wheatley when he was running the place, but I've found nothing! Not even a tiny piece of evidence that could back up my theory!

But as I've said, I don't mind causing pain and death. I'm just curious as to why I'm like that, is all...

Panting pulled me from my thoughts. I smirked when I saw Blue and Orange lying on the floor, looking badly damaged.

I chuckled causing both of them to jump. "Aww, was that torture too much for you?"

They both nodded.

I snickered. "Well, that's what you get for disappointing me! Now, go recharge! You're no use to me all damaged like this!"

They shakily got up to their feet and went over to the elevator nearby and went into their quarters where they then went to their recharge beds and went into recharge. In a few minutes, both were snoring softly, allowing their repair systems to do their job.

I sighed as I watched them. I have to admit, as fun as it is torturing them and forcing them to do countless tests, it was also... kind of boring. It just wasn't the same without Chell around... While I knew that she'd never in a million years come back here to do tests, a small part of me kind of hoped she would. Not that I miss her or anything! After all, I deleted Caroline when I let Chell go.

And while I'm at it, I should also mention that I do _not_ want that little cretin Wheatley to come back like I want Chell to! He'd just try to take over my facility again and ruin it! And I was _determined_ to _not_ let that happen again! Cave would _not_ approve of that!

But still... I've got to do something about my being bored... I can't go on like this! There's gotta be _something_ I can do...

I suddenly grinned and chuckled evilly when a thought struck me... And it was the perfect idea...

All I needed was the right tools, workers and time... And then soon Chell would be back here...

* * *

-To Be Continued-

* * *

AN- Dun dun dun! *evil face* What could GLaDOS possibly be up to? Heh heh...

Also, I'm sorry this took so long to get up... I was having some difficulty writing in GLaDOS' perspective. But I hope she was in character!

Review but no flames!


	4. Chapter 4

AN- Fourth one! :) Also, to clear something up... In the previous chapter, GLaDOS tortures Atlas and P-Body and they can feel the pain, even though in the Co-op mode, she says they can't feel pain. Just in case that confuses you (and I know some of you are confused), GLaDOS got bored of not being able to cause pain to anything anymore, so she made it so that they _can_ feel pain. And another thing I want to mention is that Chell can talk in this story. Got it? Good.

This is told from Chell's POV.

* * *

-Wheatley's Journey-

~Chapter IV: Chell~

* * *

"Hey Chell. How was work?" Michelle asked me when I stepped through the door into our apartment.

"Fine." I answer. I handed her my paycheck.

"Wow!" She exclaimed as she saw the amount of money on it. "This should pay our rent for the next three months!" She then looked confused. "But where'd all this money come from?"

I simply smiled. "I got a promotion."

"_YOU DID?"_ Michelle all but shrieked as she threw her arms around me. "That's great! Congratulations!"

"Thanks." I managed to squeak out since she was hugging me so hard I could barely breathe. "Um... C-Could you let me go now?"

Suddenly realizing I couldn't breathe, she quickly let me go before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I was so happy for you, I just reacted!" She suddenly grinned. "But this is great news! We seriously need to celebrate! So, um... Any ideas?"

I put my finger to my chin in thought before I thought of something. "I know! How about we go to Danny's Diner?"

She nodded. "Great idea! I'll go get ready."

After that, we both went to our respective rooms to get ready.

* * *

"So, how's Brandon doing?" I asked Michelle over a plate of spaghetti at Danny's.

She blushed. "W-Why would you ask that?"

I smirked. "Don't try to hide the fact that you two like each other!"

She giggled nervously. "W-What are you talking about?"

I chuckled. "You may as well give it up! Everyone knows about you two!"

She blushed even more, making me laugh. We continued talking like that for a while, just chatting about irrelevant things as we ate our dinner. But soon, I began getting this weird feeling in my chest. Normally, someone would just brush it off but not me. I rely on this feeling in times of danger. It's saved my arse multiple times in this past, so I know better than to brush it off. But why would I suddenly get this feeling when I'm not at Aperture and in no danger?

Well... I got my answer...

All of a sudden, the music that was playing over the radio in the diner changed into static. And soon... _her_ voice began playing over it. She said six simple words:

"I'm coming to get you, Chell..."

I nearly choked on my spaghetti as soon as those words were said. But before I could react properly, the music had returned. I saw a few people look up at the ceiling confused but they just shrugged and returned to eating.

Not me, though. I was on the verge of throwing up! The spaghetti, which need I tell you is my most favourite food in the entire world, churned violently in my stomach. The churning got worse and worse and I had managed to flee to the bathroom and into one of the stalls just in time to retch. It felt like a good two minutes before I finally stopped, coughing and taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down and looking down at the partially digested spaghetti.

"Chell?" I heard Michelle say as she stepped into the bathroom. "Are you alright?"

I didn't answer. I was too busy trying to calm down.

_It was her... It was _her!_ But _why?_ Why, after three years, would she suddenly come after me?_

"Chell!" I heard Michelle call out again. "If you're in here, answer me!" I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was sincerely worried.

I cleared my throat before answering "I'm over here." I hated how weak my voice sounded...

It took her a minute but she eventually found me and when she saw the state I was in, she gasped and immediately threw her arms around me, making sure to not hug me too hard.

"Chell! Honey, are you alright?"

The truth was, I felt like crap. My stomach hurt, my chest hurt, my head hurt and there was aftertaste in my mouth but not wanting to worry her even more, I simply nodded and said, "Yes."

Michelle sighed, not letting go of me. "That's good."

I'm not sure how long we sat there but soon, Michelle asked me, "Honey... What happened back there? Why did that strange voice over the radio cause you to act like this?"

I felt tears well up in my eyes but I stubbornly refused to let them fall. "Michelle..." I then took a deep shaky breath as Michelle waited patiently for me to continue. "It... It was... _her..."_

I could see Michelle's confusion before she suddenly gasped, her eyes going wide. "B-But... Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I'd recognize that cold, emotionless voice anywhere..."

"But... Why would she say she's coming for you?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "I-I don't know..."

Seeing the tears in my eyes and said, "Oh, don't cry, Chell! It'll be okay. She doesn't know where you are. You're safe. And besides," She suddenly smirked. "She's going to have to go through _me_ first!"

I had to laugh even though the worried feeling in the pit of my stomach wasn't going away.

And as I lay there, quietly crying in her arms, I couldn't help but think...

_What was going to happen now?_

* * *

-To Be Continued-

* * *

AN- Aww! Poor Chell! :( Don't you just want to give her a hug?

Review, but no flames!


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